Library Updates

News from the Libraries

Library classes for January

All library classes are free and open to all. Advance registration is appreciated but not required. If you would like to request a class or schedule a consultation at any HSC campus, please contact the library at (210) 567-2450 or email AskaLibrarian@uthscsa.edu.

If you would like to request a special class or orientation for your department or group at other days/times, please contact us!

If you are involved in any part of the academic publishing cycle, please consider joining us for this event:

December 7, 2010

3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Briscoe Library Collaboratory (4.074)

This 90-minute webinar will provide an opportunity to learn about the publishing cycle of biomedical journals, both in print and online. The complexities of publishing in a world of rapidly changing delivery formats and devices will be explored, including the publishing challenges and opportunities posed by each.

Presenters include John Tagler of Association of American Publishers, Inc. The session will be moderated by Jean Shipman, director of both the University of Utah’s Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library and the National Network of Libraries of Medicine MidContinental Region.

Key topics to be covered include:

The Current Biomedical Publishing Landscape

The Publishing Process

Publication Ethics

Production & Delivery

Practical Considerations

The Road Ahead

Participants will gain knowledge of the various roles and responsibilities of different players in the scientific publishing chain and of the international aspects of bioscience communication. All participants will have a chance to engage in discussions with the presenters.

The Biomedical Publishing 101 is a project of the Chicago Collaborative, a joint partnership of librarians, publishers and editors, and is sponsored and hosted by NN/LM MCR, NN/LM SCR, NN/LM PSR and library directors in the Four Corners region of the U.S.

Coming Soon: PubMed Author ID

If you’ve ever tried to execute a search in PubMed (or many other databases) for works by a given author, you have probably realized it can be a pretty messy proposition. A searcher currently has no alternative but to try a combination of the author’s surname and usually first and middle initials. If an author has a common surname, or if different articles have appeared with different combinations of first and/or middle name and initials, or if the author’s name has actually changed in the course of his or her career, searching for that researcher’s work can be a very hit-or-miss proposition indeed.

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) hopes to improve this situation significantly with their PubMed Author ID project, announced in early November. Although the “specifics of PubMed Author ID are still evolving,” according to the NLM Technical Bulletin, the project’s goal is to “address the problem of ambiguous author names within PubMed and facilitate accurate search and retrieval of a participating author’s works.” NLM anticipates launching PubMed Author ID in mid-2011.

Beyond just the scope of PubMed, however, the problem of standardizing author and researcher identification is being tackled by a number of large-scale projects, such as the Open Researcher & Contributor ID (ORCID). NLM has expressed its intent to make the PubMed Author ID system interoperable with such externally-developed systems, so hopefully the PubMed Author ID can become a gateway to more effective searching across many databases around the world.

Faculty of 1000 and The Scientist: subscription changes

The UT Health Science Center Libraries currently has an electronic subscription to The Scientist. The publisher, F1000, will combine its three products — Faculty of 1000 Medicine, Faculty of 1000 Biology, and The Scientist — into one product, effective January 2011. Because of the cost increase for the bundled collection, the library is not able to continue the electronic version of The Scientist in 2011 as we have for the last two years.

In order to continue an electronic subscription to The Scientist, the library would be required to subscribe to all three products resulting in more than a 400% increase in subscription cost in 2011 compared to the cost in 2010. We realize that The Scientist is a popular publication for keeping up with the latest news and views in science; however, as with all departments on campus, the library is looking at a reduced budget in the next biennium and we must be fiscally responsible.

The library will continue our print subscription to The Scientist but discontinue electronic access starting in 2011. Contact John Weed, Head of Collection Resources, with any questions or comments at weedj@uthscsa.edu.

Reminder: ERes course reserves system retires this month

As reported since May, The Libraries will retire the ERes system (http://eres.library.uthscsa.edu/) used for electronic course reserves on December 22, 2010. After December 22, ERes will no longer be available. Electronic materials uploaded for previous courses must be downloaded before that date.

Starting in 2011, only print materials and books will be accepted for course reserves. All electronic reserves will be handled through Blackboard. Books and materials on reserve at the libraries will be found through the Library Catalog.

If you need assistance with your ERes account, please contact the Briscoe Library Information Desk at (210) 567-2450 or email askalibrarian@uthscsa.edu. To get started using Blackboard for your courses, call Blackboard Support at (210) 567-7777 option #4.

Library holiday hours

The Libraries of the University of Texas Health Science Center (Briscoe, Ramirez, Laredo and Downtown) will be following the University Holiday schedule in December. Briscoe Library Hours are as follows:

December 17 7:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

December 18-19 Closed

December 20-23 7 :00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

December 24-27 Closed

December 28-30 7:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

December 31 Closed

January 1-2 Closed

Services will be limited on these days.

The Ramirez Library will keep the same closing schedule as Briscoe Library, but hours of operation will be 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Additional information about holiday hours at all the libraries can be found on our website.

Gifts for Children: The Briscoe Library will receive toy donations through December 7

For more than 25 years, Gifts for Children has been helping to brighten the holidays for children in hospitals and clinics across San Antonio. Last year, more than 4200 items were collected.

This year, the Briscoe Library is once again be a collection point for toy donations. Look for our decked-out holiday book cart donation station, located on the main floor of the Briscoe Library near the Information Desk. Donations will be received through December 7.

Gift donations are also being accepted at the Ramirez Library in Harlingen.